


Death's Bouquet

by Arynphallia



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Episode: s02e03 School Reunion, F/M, Hanahaki Disease, Mentioned Past Doctors (Doctor Who)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2020-01-06 04:32:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18381026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arynphallia/pseuds/Arynphallia
Summary: Rose has been coughing up flower petals for months. She knows enough from pop culture to know that she's dying. But she's found that doesnt bother her as much as the though of the Doctor sending her away does, which she's sure he will if she tells him.So far she's been able to keep it a secret from the Doctor, but people around her are starting to notice.





	Death's Bouquet

Rose has been coughing up blue petals for months when she meets Sarah-Jane Smith. So far, no one has noticed how out of breath she is after what should be a fairly easy run, at least by the Doctor's standards. Even Cassandra, who had possessed her, had not noticed.

But investigative reporter Sarah-Jane Smith picks up on it nearly immediately and uses her time alone with Rose to taunt her.  The animosity has been running high between them for the past two days but this is pushes her past her limits and she finally gets properly angry. Which then sends Rose into a coughing fit, spewing petals all over the desk in front of her.

The disease she has should be fictional. But how much of her life with the Doctor looks like fiction come to life? She takes a brief moment to chastise herself for letting the coughing fits happen outside of her own room. It's harder to hide the petals out here and she has no idea how the Doctor will react if he sees them.

Sarah-Jane stares at them in horror, "Rose. How long has this been happening?” 

Rose brushes her off, using the sonic to work on the computers like the Doctor told then to, “Couple months, don't worry about it. And maybe don't mention it to the Doctor?"

"But Rose, I've seen this before. It can kill you. Why haven't you told the Doctor?" Sarah-Jane wonders, any feeling of jealousy gone in the face of Rose's fate. Hanahakai's disease was a fiction troupe on earth but Sarah-Jane had witnessed first hand how real it was in certain parts of the universe.

“Because I know what this is. Or at least the fictional Earth version. I know I'm going to die. And there isn't anything the Doctor can do to save me this time.” Rose takes a deep breath, or at least tries to, but it's interrupted by more coughing and she glares at the petals stuck to her hand, apparently all her self control has evaporated. “Where have you seen this before?” she asks, not looking up from her hand.

Sarah-Jane hesitates, “After the Doctor regenerated, he took me to this planet, a bunch of the people there were sick with it. It took us days to figure out what it was.

“It's a pollen or something similar, and something happens when you breath it in. It somehow connected telepathically with your brain, zeroing in on your emotions. Unrequited love causes it to bloom, something about the chemicals produced. We never did figure up why the flowers vary person to person, but there's only two ways to get rid of it. You have the object of your affections return them, this changes the chemical composition and the spores die or have a surgery to remove the spores." Sarah-Jane became very somber, “The problem with the surgery, is that because the spores bind themselves telepathically to your brain, removing them causes mental scarring and can damage your ability to feel emotions. Most people are never able to fall in love again."

***

When the Doctor finds them later, Rose is curled in Sarah-Jane's arms, sobbing her eyes out. His resulting panic has to be pushed aside by day saving and he quickly forgets that there was anything wrong with Rose at all. After all, she's fine now and she and Sarah-Jane are getting along. So everything must be fine, right? 

Mickey Smith joins the TARDIS crew, much to Rose's displeasure because he's the only other person outside of her and Sarah-Jane who knows. She doesn't want him there, she loves Mickey, always will but it's different than it is with the Doctor. She just wants to spend the rest of her, albeit shorter than she originally thought, forever with the Doctor. She wants to die off on some adventure so he’ll never make the connection between the tension that sings between them like an electrical current and her coughing up petals. Him rejecting her, as he surely will, is the one thing she cannot bare.

Rose runs out of the TARDIS just before Sarah-Jane leaves, retching petals in the bushes behind the ship. It was either outside or reveal herself to the Doctor and this was a decidedly better option.

"What's it called?" Rose asks, wiping petals and spit away from her mouth.

"Death’s bouquet." Sarah-Jane whispers, "Rose, if you ever need anything, someone who understands what that man is like, please call me." She presses her number in Rose's hand and stares at the TARDIS as it slowly disappears, praying that the Doctor won't mess this up and that Rose Tyler will survive. 

***

  
Madame de Pompadour watches as Rose coughs up full blossoms for the first time, her face contorted in horror. 

"Sorry," Rose rasps around her sore throat, stuffing the blossoms into her pockets. 

"You have Death’s Bouquet." The woman says crisply and Rose's eyes snap up to her.

"Yeah, how do you know what that is?" 

"It was my favorite story. The peasant girl in love with a prince, coughing up sunflowers everytime she thought about him. She met him at a ball and confessed her love and he returned it and she was cured." Reinette's eyes are distant before they focus on Rose again. "I do not recognize those, but they look similar to roses. And the blue..." she swallows, "You have an unattainable love."

"I know." Rose croaks just as another coughing fit overtakes her and more flowers spill from her mouth.

"You must confess. Or you will die." Reinette insists.

Rose tries to catch her breath, "One problem: I already know he doesnt love me."

"How do you know?" Reinette asks, her head tilting in confusion.

"Because he was here snogging you. However long ago that was for you." She struggles to her feet and leans back against the fireplace heavily. "I know I'm going to die. I've come to terms with it. But I'm not going to risk ruining what I have with the Doctor." She slams the fireplace trigger and spins around, her message delivered. 

Mickey catches her when she collapses on the other side. Another bout of coughing and Rose finally feels like she can breath again. She hastily brushes the petals aside when she hears the Doctor's footsteps in the corridor. 

"The time window, it's been blocked off." He pauses at the sight of Rose in Mickey's arms, a strange look flickering across his face.

There isn't time to wonder though because he quickly leads them back to the window and then the Doctor does something incredibly stupid; he smashes through the window like a white knight on horseback. Rose stares after him in horror, he fingers reaching out for the now empty wall. "He left us."

  
*** 

Over the next five and a half hours Rose gets progressively worse, Mickey has to carry her into her bedroom on the TARDIS and she curls up in bed, retching blooms into the trash can by her bed. Reinette’s words ring in her ears and paired with the Doctor's disappearance, she knows Reinette is right. She's going to die coughing up these damn flowers, literally choking on her love for the Doctor, and she doesn't even know what species they are. 

A book appears on her nightstand: _Gallifreyan Flora_ . She sends a thank you to the ship, running her fingers over the conver and wondering if the ship is actually translating Gallifreyan for her or if this book is written in some language that the TARDIS normally translates. 

Rose opens it and quickly goes to the flower section. The flowers she's been coughing up for months are the first ones listed. Arkytior.   
  
'The most ancient of all flowers is the arkytior. Deep blue in color, they thrive in unusual places. Think of a place that you would not normally expect a flower to thrive and you will find arkytior there. A single bloom can last millennia, even once cut. They should only be exchanged in the closest of relationships, such as bonded couples. They've come to signify many things but the main of those being; love, time, the universe, adventure, and freedom.’

 

Rose sobs, of course. Of bloody course she would cough up the exact flower that symbolizes exactly how she feels about the Doctor. She pulls one of the flowers from the trashcan and gently pets the petals. A tentative sniff reveals that the bitterness thick on her tongue isn't the flowers fragrance. They smell heavenly, like roses and lavender rolled into one with the spicy scent of time layered over top.

 

If they weren't slowly killing her, she would think they were beautiful.   


She curls on her side with the book clutched to her chest and the flower resting on her pillow. Her eyelids droop and she gives in to the pull, slipping into an uneasy sleep.

  
***

  
The Doctor knocks gently on her door when he gets back. Mickey is furious with him and he knows he needs to apologize to Rose, but she's not answering the door. He cracks the door open and is hit with a wave of fragrance.   


Her entire room reeks of arkytior, it swirls around with the other, more human smells he knows to be her soap and her shampoo and her skin. He can't resist taking a deep breath. It seers through his senses and he can almost taste her. His eyes water, yes that's from the the sheer volume of the fragrance and not the fact that he knows exactly what those flowers mean and now he's going to forever associate then with Rose Tyler.  


He quickly shuts the door behind him and makes a hasty retreat down the corridor. He sends a questioning thought to his ship, wondering how on earth Rose came by that particular scent. The TARDIS responds with waves of disbelief and a pressing sense that he really needs to get his act together.

  
***

  
Rose wakes in the middle of the night, fresh flowers forcing their way up her throat. She spits them into the garbage before picking up the one on her pillow. It's the prettiest one she's coughed out and she decides she's going to give it to the Doctor. Not the most obvious confession but knowing what she does about the flowers now, she cant resist letting him know in some small way.   
  
She makes her way to the galley with a quick stop in his empty room to deposit the flower. She leaves it on his pillow, the blue bright against the white pillowcase.   
  
The kettle is already boiling when she gets to the galley and she sends a silent thank you to the TARDIS. She drinks her tea with milk and sugar now; it's the only thing that rinses away the bitter tang of the flower petals that clings to her mouth and makes her tongue feel thick and stupid. They do smell wonderful though, and Rose is thankful for that. But she know that eventually, she'll start to hate them. The scent will become unbearable as she slowly chokes to death but for now, she resolves to enjoy it.   
She's closed her eyes, relaxing her chair and slowly breathing in the scent of her tea, hands reveling in the glorious warmth radiating from her cup when the door slams open.   


"Rose!" The Doctor exclaims, “There you are. I've been looking all over the TARDIS for you.” his voice is bright and happy, if not slightly more manic than usual. Its disarming and she feels her anger over him jumping through that portal dissipate.  


She slowly opens her eyes and her breath catches in her throat, stuck behind what feels like another flower. His hair is wilder than she's ever seen it, sticking up in several directions like he's been running his fingers through it. The arkytior she left for him is cradled gently in his palm like a treasure and she envies it.   


He crosses the room in two long strides, showing her the flower in his hands, "Did you leave this on my pillow?" His eyes burn with intensity and something in her chest begins to burn in response.   


She shakes her head, ready to deny it, but her throat is clogged and nothing but more flowers are going to come out if she tries to speak. She tries swallowing and slowly opens her mouth but the burn in her chest is too much. She doubles over, coughing up flower after flower until her head spins from the lack of oxygen. When she finally gets a moment to breathe, she inhales deeply, trying to clear the black spots in her vision.   


She risks looking up at him, but the horror on his face only brings on another coughing fit that knocks her from her chair. His hand rubs her back soothingly until she can breath again.   


"Who is it, Rose?" He asks, despair laced through his words.  


"Does it matter?" She croaks, wrapping her arms around her legs and curling in on herself.   


"Yes, it does!" He snaps. "Rose, I can take you to wherever he is. You don't have to-" the unspoken _die_ rings around them and she shudders.   


"He doesnt love me back. And before you even suggest it, I'm not getting the bloody surgery. I know that it makes it so you cant love anymore and I refuse to live like that." She cries, shrinking away from the hand he tries to rest on her shoulder. "'M going to die Doctor. Just a bit sooner than I originally thought. I'm sorry."  


"Rose please," he pleads with her, "Let me fix this."  


"You can't." She coughs again and grimaces at the blood speckled flower that falls from her mouth this time.   


He pulls her into his arms and cradles her against his chest, "Please Rose, there has to be something, anything. I can't lose you."  


She presses her face to his suit jacket and breathes him in. How silly it seems, that being as crushed tightly to him as she is, this is the easiest time she's had breathing in weeks. "I love you." She murmurs into his jacket, "I love you so much you daft alien."  
  
His entire body tenses around her and her heart shatters. He's going to tell her he doesn't love her and then he's going to spend the rest of his life being guilty over something that was completely out of his control.   


"I love you too." He says quickly, grabbing her chin and forcing her to look at him. "Rose Tyler, I love you so much I don't understand it. There aren't words in any language I know, and mind you, that's over five billion, to express just how much I love you."   


She blinks up at him, dazed by his sudden confession. "What?" She can already feel the flowers dying, her airways slowly clearing.  
His lips quirk into something close to a smile but its strained, "Rose Tyler," she cuts him off with her lips, pressing her mouth desperately against his.

 


End file.
